Another High School Story
by MysteriousMew
Summary: With the inheritance left to her by her grandmother and a dream, Carlotta Winters creates a school where those who have been bullied, rejected by everyone can be themselves and accepted. Follow the students of Twin Wings High as they deal with the drama of love, school and rivalry between them and Hearst High. Based off the IOS game by Pixelberry. A High School Story Fanfic.
1. Prologue - Little Wonders

**Another High School Story**

**Prologue:**

**Little Wonders**

Carlotta sat by her mother, both of them looking utterly miserable as the lawyer read out the will of her grandmother. It destroyed both of them when the elderly woman passed away. Her mother's twin, Uncle Richard, or Dick as he was preferred to be called, stood behind them.

"For my daughter, Ellen, I leave you the company and everything associated with it," the lawyer informed the light brown haired woman whose blue eyes were filled with tears. "May you bring luck and joy as my successor."

"Of course, mother," Ellen murmured as the lawyer turned to Carlotta who braced herself.

"To my grandaughter, Carlotta, I leave enough money for you to build the school we had always talked about," Carlotta's eyes widened from behind her small rimmed, robin black glasses, along with Ellen. Richard was the only one who didn't seemed surprised but beamed and patted her shoulder. "Build a high school where everyone can be themselves, not have to worry about social constrictions. May you help grow and bring forth a safe haven for teenagers."

"And for my son, Richard, I place you as principal for Carlotta's school," the lawyer continued, like it was nothing huge while Carlotta and her mother were still in shock.

"Looks like we'll be working together for a while," Richard smiled at his niece who slowly got over her shock and began smiling.

_Thank you, grandma, _Carlotta sent a silent thank-you to her grandmother as the lawyer wrapped it up and dimissed them. Immediately, Carlotta's mother jumped onto her about the school.

"You are not to build the school," Ellen told her firmly and Carlotta frowned, her stubborn face coming on. "You are perfectly fine at the school you are at now."

"No I'm not," Carlotta insisted, hating the all-girls school she was at now. It took advantage of her genius brain and she hated it. She could never hang out with anyone, always having to study or help with the electronic company that her great-grandfather started many years ago.

"She'll be fine," Richard reassured his sister, placing a hand on his niece's shoulder with a proud smile. "Mother always planned this for her, you know better than to go against mother's instincts."

Ellen's lips pursed into a thin line as she stared at daughter's pleading face.

"Mom, I want to build a school where you can be yourself, make your own choices, build your own path to your own future," Carlotta said desperately, wanting to make the dream she and her grandmother wanted, a reality.

Finally, after a few tense moments, Ellen sighed in defeat and Carlotta squealed in delight, hugging her mother.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I thought I should jump on the band wagon when I saw that they had a section for the great IOS/Android game called 'High School Story' and this is a OCXWes one because honestly, who isn't dating him by now? That is the real question. But there will also be AutumnxJulian, PaytonxErza and NishanxSakura. If anyone wants their MC installed into it with, then let me know!**

**My one is a girl named Charlotte Winters, better known as Carlotta who is a nerd. There isn't much fanfiction on this awesome game so hopefully I can contribute!**

**Rate and Review!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Weightless

**Chapter One:**

**Weightless**

**Four months later...**

It was the day before the grand opening of the school which Carlotta called Twin Wings High School. So far, it looked like a wonderful school with three classrooms, a building which she dubbed a 'Nerd,' hangout, a 'Jock,' hangout and finally, a 'Prep,' hangout.

As she wandered along the brick path, walking past the fountain, she heard footsteps and spun around. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Carlotta called as a girl with tanned skin and brown hair in a plait revealed herself from behind a hedge.

"Hey, I'm Autumn," she introduced herself, walking closer with a big smile on her face. "I heard this school was opening tomorrow, so I stopped by to check it out. It's nice to meet you, I'm from Hearst High."

Carlotta nodded, a welcoming smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, Autumn."

"Thanks! It was really boring before you got here," Autumn sighed and Carlotta grinned at her in amusement.

"So you usually hang out in empty lots?" Carlotta teased and Autumn sighed, her face fell.

"Actually, I come here pretty often to get away. The people at Hearst can be...well, they can be jerks," she explained but then brightened a little. "I've been wanting to transfer to this school ever since I heard it was opening! But Hearst High is the most prestigious school in the area...and my dad won't let me transfer."

Carlotta honestly felt for her, knowing how hard it was to fit in a school where everyone took advantage of you.

"If this school gets better, maybe your dad will change his mind and transfer you," Carlotta offered, moving a strand of her straight, dark hair behind her ear as a small breeze blew in. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and showed it was a message from a girl named Kara. Frowning, she looked towards the direction of the parking lot. "I just got a text from some girl named Kara. She's demanding I meet her out in the parking lot."

Autumn's expression darkened a little at the name. "That must be Kara Sinclair. She's the head cheerleader at Hearst. She's not someone you want to mess with," Autumn warned her but Carlotta didn't care. "Carlotta, you shouldn't meet with her alone."

"I don't care," Carlotta told her but Autumn looked a little scared for her new friend.

"She might have her boyfriend Max with her. His dad's the principal at Hearst High."

"And my uncle is the principal here."

Autumn gave up and followed her as Carlotta walked to the parking lot, where a guy with blonde hair and a girl with black hair in a ponytail were waiting.

"So, Loser High got its first loser," the guy, whom Carlotta assumed was Max, snorted.

Kara spotted Autumn a little bit behind Carlotta. "And look, Little Miss Quirkface is already over here. I always knew Autumn was a dork, but I never thought she was a traitor..."

"Alright, back off. What do you have against this school anyway?" Carlotta demanded, crossing her arms over her chest, not looking the least bit impressed.

"There's a plan for this land, and it doesn't involve your crappy school!" Max spat and Carlotta raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"I'm sorry, but this land has been under the property of Free Wings company for the past four months," Carlotta watched in satisfaction of seeing their shocked expressions before hers hardened. "I don't know who you two think you are, but you can't just go around bullying people."

Kara glares, stepping closer and getting into Carlotta's face. "And what are you gonna do about it?" she sneered and Carlotta narrowed her eyes, noticing the amount of make-up she wore.

"Well, I definitely can't hit you. With all caked-on makeup, it's like you're wearing face-armor," Carlotta retorted and Kara looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Excuse me?" Kara asked, trying to hear correctly as she continued.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said in mock apologetic. "Were you intentionally going for the 'trashy clown,' look? If so, you still kind of overdid it on the eyeliner."

Kara screamed in frustration, glaring murderously at Carlotta who thought if only looks could kill...

"This is so not funny. I'm not going to forget this," Kara swore, walking back to her boyfriend who smirked before leaving. Carlotta let out a breath she had been holding, her heart pounding as she turned to Autumn.

"Now you can see why I don't really like being at Hearst High," Autumn said as they headed back into the school.

"I don't think anyone else should have to put up with bullies like them," Carlotta shook her head, calming herself down as they arrived back at the fountain in the courtyard. She stared into the water, seeing her moss green eyes staring back at her in determination. "I'm going to make this the best high school this town has ever seen, and I'm going to open it to anyone who wants to come here. For everyone who feels bullied...ignored...taken advantage of...or just plain lost...this will be the place for them."

Autumn looked crestfallen at the girl's speech. "Oh, Carlotta...I wish I could transfer here."

Carlotta gave her a small, reassuring smile as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just give it time, Autumn. I know we'll be able to convince your dad."

"Yeah, well, right now, I need to get back to Hearst. I'll see you later, Carlotta," Autmun waved and walked off, leaving Carlotta alone in the empty school.

Carlotta gazed back at the water before turning to the cloudless sky. "I'll make you proud, grandma," she vowed quietly as another breeze blew in.

**oOo**

**A Week Later...**

Twin Wings was slowly filling up with more students as they hit the thirty student mark, making Carlotta and Richard proud of what they had accomplished.

Ella, a prep, was trying to convince Carlotta to allow her to take her shopping when Autumn stopped by, something that was normal for the students at Twin Wings.

"Hey, Carlotta!" Autumn called as she ran over. "I know we need to get more students to keep this place open...so I though of someone we might be able to recruit."

"Oooh, I can see this is official business," Ella grinned, taking a step back. "Remember what I said, Carly."

"Nice try, Ella," Carlotta told the prep as she walked away. She turned back to Autumn who looked excited. "So? Who'd you have in mind?"

"His name's Julian and he's a star football player at Hearst High," Autumn explained to her as they took a seat at a bench near the fountain. "He's been having some problems there. I'll go get him, but in the meantime, keep recruiting so it'll impress Julian."

"Sure," Carlotta nodded as Autumn left. She was only alone for a moment when James, a jock with blonde hair, immediately spotted her.

"Hey, Carlotta. Got a sec?" he asked and she nodded, standing up.

"Sure, what's up?" Carlotta asked, crossing her arms over her chest as he began explaining the Iron Warrior challenge. It had a smile on her face, seeing how excited he was about it.

"Is this going to be your first time competing?" she asked and he rubbed the back of his neck, an awkward expression on his face.

"Actually, I competed last year and it...didn't work out," he explained to her but waved it off, determination strong in his brown eyes. "But that's in the past! This year, I'm gonna win, and I'm gonna win big."

"You have my support," Carlotta told him as Vera, another jock, ran over and offered to help James out with training. As she watched them run off for the running part of the challenge, she spotted Autumn in the corner of her eye.

Turning, she looked over and found a guy with black hair, wearing a football jersey, carrying a football in his hands. Both of them walked over towards her and the guy nodded in greeting.

"Hey, Autumn said you're recruiting people," he greeted and Carlotta nodded as Autumn spoke.

"Julian's a big football star at Hearst High. But he's been having some problems there," Autumn pipped up. "You remember Max? He joined the team a few weeks ago and the principal insists that he gets to play Julian's position."

Carlotta screwed her face in disgust. "That's horrible," she commented as an annoyed look crossed Julian's face.

"Look, I didn't sign up for a share circle where we talk about our feelings. This is my problem, no one else's," he told them firmly, leaving no room for objections.

Autumn bit her bottom lip. "I just think it's unfair. And you don't have to be treated that way. You can join this school," she suggested and Julian raised a brow before turning to Carlotta.

"Well, here's the big question: how's your football team?" he asked and Carlotta placed a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes looking a little embarrassed behind her glasses.

"We...uh...don't exactly _have_ a football team right now. We're just starting out," the nerd explained and Julian didn't look too impressed.

"No team? Then this was a waste of time," he snorted, turning to Autumn. "Autumn, you don't know me very well, but I'm a football guy. What would I do here? At least Hearst I get _some_ time on the field."

Carlotta saw opportunity slipping and blurted out, "We're in the works of getting a football program running."

"Oh yeah?" he looked at her doubtful, studying the nerd's attire. Besides her glasses, she wore light blue skinny jeans with a long, white shirt underneath a matching cotton vest. "You know a lot about football?"

_Not really, _she thought dryly but nodded her head. "A little, my uncle is a massive fan of the New York Jets," she told him and he perked up a little at the information.

"Then let's see what you've got at this school," he told her, preparing to throw the ball. Carlotta spotted Vera not too far away, eyeing the ball with a competitive look in her blue eyes. "Somebody, go long!"

Julian threw the ball in a perfect spiral as Vera sprinted after it, effortlessly catching it.

"Got it," Vera declared, smug about it as she jogged towards them.

Julian grabbed the ball but gave Carlotta an apologetic look. "Sorry, guys. You don't even have enough room around here to throw a ball. I'm not crazy about Hearst, but at least they've got a field."

"But-" Autumn tried to convince him but Julian shook his head.

"Sorry, but I've got to head back. There's a big game today, and there's even going to be a college scout there," Julian cut her off, taking a step back and began walking away. Autumn stayed where she was and Julian noticed this before turning around. "Are you coming?"

"I um..." she broke off, looking a little awkward and Carlotta noticed the slight disappointment on Julian's face.

Deciding to step in, Carlotta gave Julian an encouraging smile. "We'll see you at your game. Good luck," she told him and he nodded, eyes still on Autumn before turning and leaving.

"Can James and I come?" Vera asked excitedly. "It'll be fun."

Carlotta nodded as the jock girl ran over to her friend and the nerd watched them disappear as the bell for the next class rang across the school.

"Meet up at the front gate at five. We'll head over together," Carlotta suggested and Autumn nodded, a small smile on her face.

**oOo**

Carlotta's uncle was surprised but allowed her to watch the football game with some students. So that evening, Vera, James and Carlotta met up with Autumn and headed over to Hearst High, finding seats at the bleachers and started watching the game.

Carlotta frowned when she noticed an outraged Julian being benched and turned to Autumn. "What's going on? Why isn't he playing?"

Autumn studied the coach and Julian before looking annoyed. "It looks like the coach won't let Julian play," she said before pointing out where Max was running across the field. "See? Max has taken his spot."

"What?" Vera asked, shocked as James looked at the coach angrily.

"That's bullshit! That Max kid can't even play!" he spat as Carlotta calmed them down. They watched in dismay until half time where Autumn and Carlotta witnessed Max jogging towards Julian. By the taunting look on Max's face and Julian's anger rising, the two girls assumed Max was gloating.

"This doesn't look so good," Carlotta murmured to Autumn as they watched.

And then Julian lunged at Max, tackling him to the ground.

"James-" Carlotta began but the jock was already on it, jumping up and running down, pulling the guys apart as the rest of them scrambled over. Autumn and Vera were holding a pissed off Julian as Max stood up, wiping dirt off of him.

"Who the hell are you?" Max demanded at James who looked at him in disgust.

"A concerned citizen," James replied as the coach stormed over, a look of embarrassment and fury written on his face. He began to yell at Julian at the top of his lungs before storming away.

"Ha, suck it Julian," Max sneered as James stood in front of the girls, in a protective stance. "That temper of yours needs to be checked."

Julian glared and shrugged off Vera and Autumn, walking away. Carlotta gestured for them to follow him before turning back to Max who was watching her in a victory smirk.

"I bet you're _really _proud of yourself. Using your father's money and position to get everything handed to you on a silver platter," Carlotta spat in disgust as he raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes.

"Oh? And like _you_ don't? Little Miss Charlotte Winters," he said, expecting her to be shocked that he knew her last name, but her gazed hardened.

"No, I don't and that's the difference between you and I. While you abuse your money and position to hurt others, I work for mine and use it to build a safe haven for those you bully," Carlotta said firmly, sticking to her beliefs before turning on her heel with James beside her. They found the others waiting outside the school gate, Julian slightly calmer as Autumn talked to him.

"-Join Carlotta's school!" Autumn encouraged and Vera nodded in agreement.

"It's the best choice I've made in my entire life," Vera pipped up as Julian looked a little unsure.

"Look, I'm different from you guys. I'm not artistic like you Autumn or a genius..." Julian fell silent as they approached.

"You don't need to be anyone but you," Carlotta told him, a warm smile on her lips, arms crossed across her chest. "And I'm in the need of a talented football star to help build the Twin Wings Wildcats. Know anyone in mind?"

Julian grinned.

* * *

**Song: Weightless by Natasha Beingfield or something like that. I suck at last names, not gonna lie. **

**There's the first chapter and hopefully you guys loved it! I'm trying to follow roughly the same storyline while adding things here and there. So we've recruited Julian, guess who's next? **


	3. Chapter 2 - Who I Am

**Chapter Two:**

**Who I Am**

**Three Weeks Later...**

**Population: 54 students...**

Payton squealed in delight at the sight of the newest building on the campus, something the dark skinned prep had dubbed as 'Party Central.' An appropriate name considering it was a building where all parties occured with everything you needed.

At first, Carlotta's uncle was a little dubious of the idea but since it the empty building had been turned into Party Central, more students had enrolled. He even had to admit that it was worth the money spent and fundraised by the students

"This place is amazing!" Payton gushed, running into the building and examining everything inside, the dancefloor, DJ booth, snack bar, couchs to rest on etc.

"Wow," Autumn said in awe, staring at the place before turning to Carlotta with a puzzled expression. "How'd you get this place done in two weeks?"

Carlotta shrugged her shoulders like it wasn't a big thing. "Friends of the family did it," she explained as Julian peeked over the artist's shoulder, letting out a low whistle.

"When you said give you two weeks...you weren't kidding," Julian commented and handed her twenty dollars which Carlotta gladly took, making a mental note to put it in the student bank. It was a bank account that her mother had set up that contained money that would go towards anything student related.

"A Winters stand by their promises," Carlotta murmured, her mind on more pressing matters. A slight frown crept onto her face and Julian noticed it as Autumn and Payton examined the building.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm just thinking about the home-coming game between us and Hearst High," Carlotta answered, watching the smiles on the two girls's faces. This was their one shot at convincing Autumn's father to allow her to transfer schools. After all, the school was in the middle of building another two hangouts for the artistic and musically talented kids that had transferred.

"Hearst is one of the top football teams in the state," Julian agreed bitterly but then shook it off. "But we have something they don't-besides rare talent."

A small smile was brought to her lips as she looked at him, seeing the determination burning in his eyes. "And what's that?"

"Motivation and a reason to win besides punching their faces in with their own ego," Julian answered, turning his gaze to Autumn as it softened upon the sight of her.

Carlotta looked over as the two girls talked animately about the place from the dance floor. "How's the team looking?"

"Good, we just need some help to come up with a solid play book."

Emilio, a guy with a genius brain for strategy, along with his best friend, Cameron, came to mind. "Head over to the nerd hangout, Emilio and Cameron should be able to come up with something."

Julian nodded at her suggestion as the girls ran back over, ending the conversation.

"Can we have a party tonight?" Payton pleaded. "We need to Payton-ise it!"

Carlotta laughed at that and nodded. "Sure, but as stated in the rules, you have to sign on the start and finish time of the party. Just so the principal knows," the nerd explained and Payton nodded excitedly as they left the building.

"Think of this as a welcoming party," Autumn suggested and Payton beamed even more at the idea.

"You would give moi a party?" the prep asked, touched by the suggestion and they nodded. "Then we have to go shopping!"

Carlotta saw the look on Payton's face and shook her head immediately. "No, there is no way I am shopping."

Payton pouted in disappointment. "At least let us come to your house to help you get ready," Payton bargained, determined to dress the nerd up and remove the glasses that hid her eyes.

Seeing there was no way to argue with Payton, Carlotta sighed in defeat and Payton grinned in victory. Julian gave her a look of pity as they walked towards the courtyard.

**oOo**

**After School...**

Carlotta watched in slight amusement at the surprised looks on the girls's faces as she drove her white Suzuki Swift into the driveway.

"I totally pegged you wrong," Payton stated as they climbed out of the car. "I assumed your house would be...well...bigger."

Carlotta laughed at that, shaking her head as they headed inside the two story house. It looked like the house belonged to slightly upper middle class people and that's what the nerd loved about it.

"Mom and I were never the type to enjoy expensive tastes," Carlotta explained as they headed upstairs to Carlotta's room. It was a large room, with a huge bed and everything you'd expect for a daughter of a CEO of a large company. Only, there were more bookshelves than clothing drawers and wardrobes.

"Wow, a lot of things are happening at your school," Autumn said in awe, examining and reading the notes on Carlotta's desk and thumb tack board on the wall in front of the desk.

"Soon it'll be your school," Carlotta told her firmly, putting a hand on her shoulder and the artist beamed in hope at the sound of it. Payton's squeals forced them to look towards the prep who looked like a kid trapped in a candy store.

"Why have I never seen you wear these?" Payton exclaimed, holding up various dresses, skirts and shirts before turning to the cupboard for shoes. "Can we swap lives?"

Both Autumn and Carlotta burst into giggles at the excited Payton, imagining drool coming down her chin at the sight of all of the clothes. Finally, they got down to business and began getting ready, the girls borrowing some of Carlotta's clothes.

Payton forced the nerd into a light blue and white polka dotted sundress with matching coloured ballet flats and a nice, simple gold heart locket.

"Do you have contacts?" Payton questioned as she removed Carlotta's glasses. The world blurred around her slightly and Carlotta blinked a few times.

"In the music box," she pointed to one of the drawers and closed her eyes. She heard Payton rumaging through her things before coming back and handing her the contacts. Carlotta quickly put them in, blinking rapidly a few times to make sure they were in place.

After that was taken care of, Autumn jumped in to do her make-up as Payton pinned two strands of the nerd's hair back and presented her to the mirror. Carlotta was shocked at the reflection in the mirror before her and she turned to the girls, finding them looking quite proud at their handy work.

A warm smile crept onto her face. "Thank you, you two," Carlotta said earnestly.

**oOo**

The three girls entered the building, seeing it already in swing and students enjoying themselves on the dancefloor with Melody playing DJ.

Payton squealed loudly over the music at the sight, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "This is totally better than I imagined!" she exclaimed, practically running onto the dance floor as Autumn and Carlotta giggled from the entrance.

The nerd noticed Autumn looking around for someone and smirked slightly. "If you're looking for Julian, he's over there," Carlotta pointed to the table where Julian was chatting with Emilio and Cameron; no doubt about the playbook.

Autumn's cheeks went slightly pink. "I...I..." she stammered as Julian chose this moment to look over and spotted Autumn. It didn't help the artist one bit as the football star walked over, making Carlotta amused.

"Hey Autumn," Julian greeted her before noticing Carlotta. "Who's your friend here?"

Carlotta's smile dropped from her face. Okay, now she wasn't amused anymore.

"Wow, I take my glasses off and let Payton tackle me into clothes and suddenly I'm an entirely different person?" Carlotta snapped sarcastically and Julian's eyes widened, recognition in his dark brown eyes.

"Whoa, Carlotta?!" he asked to be sure and she scowled at him while Autumn was trying hard not to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. "Who knew you could look good."

"Yeah, a miracle isn't it?" she muttered, shaking her head as she felt more people look at her. Not liking the feeling of being like an animal on display, the nerd went to go and join Payton on the dance floor.

* * *

**Song: Who I Am from Bratz Rock Angelz. We do not judge okay.**

**Anyway, welcome Payton everyone's favourite dark-skinned prep! Moved away from the game storyline for a bit but we all know what's coming up next and hopefully, it'll be good as we beat Hearst and bring in everyone's favourite Nerd.**

**Rate and Review!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Power & Spring Of Life

**Chapter Three:**

**Power & Spring Of Life**

_**One Week Later...**_

_**Population: 67 students...**_

Carlotta was in one of the nerd hangouts, finishing up an essay for advanced english, when Zoe called out to her from the front entrance. She looked up and saw Julian hesitating at the front door and she stood up.

"What's wrong? I thought you and the team were practicing," Carlotta frowned, recalling the massive arguement between the jock and a certain dark skinned prep about time on the field.

"Max was spying on us with some some of mini-helicopter with a camera attached to it and streamed it all back at Hearst," Julian said bitterly, looking like he wanted to punch something and fast.

"Okay," Carlotta held up a hand to calm him down as she thought of a plan. "Grab your best wing man from the team and Vera. I'll get Emilio, Cameron and Zoe."

Julian nodded, leaving the hangout as Carlotta gathered Emilio from one of the labs and found the two gamers in the entertainment room. When she returned with them in tow to the main area, Julian, James and Vera were waiting for them there.

"Why can't we meet up in our area?" James asked, a little uncomforable in the nerd hangout as Emilio rolled his eyes.

"Because ours is secured with the top fire walls and connection scramblers," Emilio answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world and James looked annoyed.

"Don't start fighting or we'll never get through this," Carlotta warned the blonde jock who closed his mouth and pursed his lips into a thin line, obviously not happy. "Emilio is right, since there might be a chance that Hearst will try to spy on us again, we're safe from electronic attacks."

Julian nodded, a firm look on his face. "We need to come up with a playbook better than the last one. Something they don't expect coming and so solid there are no..."

"Loop holes," Zoe inputted and Julian nodded. Carlotta's phone vibrated in her back pocket of her black skinny jeans as they all gathered around the white, round table and began planning.

"Mom? What's wrong?" Carlotta frowned as she answered, stepping away from the others to take the call.

"_I just wanted to let you know that I won't be able to make it to the football game tonight. Something's come up at the office and it needs my attention," _Ellen informed her daughter, allowing Carlotta's face to fall slightly.

"It's okay, I figured something might come up," Carlotta said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "There's always next time though. Right?"

"_Of course. I want to see the school you and Dick have built together. From what I have heard, it's becoming a rising success," _Ellen complimented before pausing as someone spoke to her in the background. With a tired sigh, Carlotta's mother's voice returned to the phone. "_I need to deal with something. I'll see you at home."_

"Sure, good luck with work," Carlotta murmured, hanging up. She stared at her white IPhone 5 in silence for a moment before putting it back into her pocket and returned to the others. They all seemed confident with the new playbook, evident from their victory grins.

"Let's go practice it," Julian stated as Vera and James stood up. "Can you bring that...thingy you were talking about?"

Emilio nodded confidently. "The EMP will ensure no more surprise attacks while you practice."

"Make sure it's small enough to avoid shutting down the school," Carlotta warned him as he held up the small IPad device in his hand.

"Of course," Emilio snorted, rising from his seat to follow Vera and Cameron out while Julian stayed behind, seeing the disappointment in Carlotta's eyes.

"Something wrong?" he asked, concerned for his friend and she looked at him, the negative emotion disappearing from her eyes as she gave him a small smile.

"Nope, we're all good and sounds like you better get to practice for tonight's game," she reminded him and he nodded, not convinced but left it at that as he left the hangout.

**oOo**

_**During Half-time...**_

While Payton, a few dancers, cheerleaders and Amy dressed in the wildcat mascot costume were performing on the field for the half-time show, Julian brought the team together, along with Zoe and Emilio, going through the plan from what Carlotta observed.

"This is turning out better than I thought," Richard commented, moving slightly to the up-beat of the music played from the 'Enchanted Forest' float made by the artist kids. "So much team spirit."

"Yeah," Carlotta agreed, a proud smile on her face as she watched her favourite prep on the float.

"And I'm impressed the team was able to come up with a solid playbook in time," Richard continued, having known what occured with the quardcopter earlier today. While he was beyond furious that Hearst would stoop to such low actions, he agreed with Julian and even encouraged that the wildcats 'beat their faces in with a victory,' making the students fall in love with the principal even more.

"It's too bad Ellen couldn't come," Richard frowned slightly, annoyed with his elder sister. Although his niece never complained, it was evident that she was disappointed yet again that the company took priority.

Carlotta didn't say anything as the half-time show came to an end, with both teams heading back onto the field. Payton joined Carlotta and her uncle in the stands, a grin on her face.

"Well done, Payton," Richard praised her with a warm smile. "That was definitely a show worth remembering."

Payton blushed a little. "Thanks Principal Winters!" she beamed as they turned back to the game. Hearst was up by two points and all Twin Wings needed was a touchdown to win the game.

"Go wildcats!" All students of Twin Wings shouted, with the cheerleaders singing a chant with Amy dancing to it.

Julian grabbed the ball as Max tried trip him. The girls watched as he threw the ball to Vera who caught it with ease and sprinted towards home. A few Hearst players tried to stop her but she dodged them with ease and scored.

Immediately, all of Twin Wings stood up in a roar of cheers, the football team practically tackling each other on the field. Payton and Carlotta were grinning and covering their ears as Richard seemed the loudest in the stands.

**oOo**

_**Later that evening...**_

Autumn, Julian, Payton and Carlotta all headed back to Payton's place to celebrate four things: beating Hearst, winning their first game, Autumn's transfer and the apparent rivalry between the two principals.

"I never knew about it," Carlotta admitted, holding her hot chocolate in her hands. "It makes sense though, Uncle Dick would never hate someone without a reason."

Autumn shook her head. "No wonder Hearst has it out for you."

"For _us_, remember?" Payton reminded her firmly, a big grin on her face. "You're officially a student of Twin Wings now."

Autumn beamed as she remembered her father allowing her to transfer to the school. She turned to Carlotta with a question in her eyes. "By the way, is there a place for artists like me? I know there's are hangouts for jocks, nerds and preps, but what about me?"

Carlotta smirked, showing the other three that she was up to something. "Something like that..." she vaguely answered.

**oOo**

_**A Week Later...**_

_**Population: 69 students...**_

And up to something she was, as Carlotta showed the three newest buildings to the artistic and musical talented students. Let's just say, the results were _very _positive.

"Carlotta, remember the quardcopter?" Autumn asked as they walked through the courtyard. "I have an idea on who might have built it but we need to get back to Hearst."

"Then we'll need to disguise ourselves," Carlotta said, nodding as ideas flowed into her head. "I'll disguise myself as a janitor since no one pays attention to them."

Autumn nodded, seeing where she was going with her train of thought as they quickly disguised themselves before driving over to Hearst High. Both dressed as janitors, they snuck into the school and split up so to not rouse suspicion.

"Leave Scruffy be," Carlotta grumbled in a low voice, pretending to sweep the floor as she headed towards a science lab. Just as she was about to turn a corner, Mia, Max's little sister, spotted her and stormed over.

"Hey, you!" Mia exclaimed, looking annoyed beyond belief. Carlotta froze, not wanting to move a muscle. "My locker was supposed to be scrubbed spotless!"

"I...uh..."

Mia rolled her eyes, pulling out a twenty dollar note. "Look, have this. Probably more than your normal wage," she sneered just as Kara called out to her. Putting the money back into her wallet, the blonde stormed off as Carlotta let out a sigh of relief before escaping to the lab. She could hear Autumn's voice and a guy's voice upon entering.

"-Check out the school then," Autumn suggested as Carlotta closed the door behind her and peeled off her fake grey beard and matching wig.

"How men wear beards is beyond me," Carlotta commented before standing next to Autumn. "You must be Nishan."

The dark skinned genius gaped at her, eyes widened in awe and he shook her hand immediately. "I can't believe I'm meeting Charlotte Winters! I have to say I admire your brain."

Carlotta nodded, a little uncomfortable as Autumn looked confused and Nishan had seen that.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" Nishan exclaimed at the artist. "Charlotte Winters, along with myself and a few others, have been acknowledged as genius's across the country!"

Carlotta withdrew her hand and gave Autumn a look that said she would tell her later as the artist turned back to the male nerd. "Just call me Carlotta, only my grandmother called me Charlotte and that's when I was in trouble," she told him and he nodded eagerly. "Why don't you come and check out the school then?"

Nishan hesitated, seeming a little unsure before finally nodding. "Alright..."

**oOo**

_**Ten Minutes Later...**_

Nishan seemed surprised as the three of them walked through the school gates and into the courtyard. "Well, well, so this is the new school. From all the talk at Hearst, I was expecting more of a sprawling dump meets post-apocalyptic wasteland...but instead, it looks like you've got a state-of-the-art learning facility! I haven't been this pleasantly surprised since I tried to create synthetic peanut butter," he turned back to then. "It was totally inedible. Just awful. But it worked amazingly as an industrial sealant!"

Carlotta raised an eyebrow as Nishan caught himself in his ramblings and focused himself. "Where was I? Oh yeah, nice school."

"So...you're impressed?" Carlotta questioned to clarify and he pursed his lips, examining the courtyard.

"I mean, the place is nice and all...but it's no Hearst. I mean, Hearst has connections and snobby faculty and a robotics club..." Nishan trailed off and Autumn gestured for him to follow her. They walked towards the nerds section of the school where in the middle of all of the hangouts for the academically talented students, was a battle arena. "...You've already got a battle arena..."

"Yep," Carlotta grinned a little smugly, secretly glad a couple of the nerds, gamers and film maker kids wanted one built a while ago. "We even have a workshop in one of the hangouts."

Nishan seemed impressed. "Needs more lasers, though...but then again, what doesn't, am I right?" he asked her and she chuckled but then his face fell slightly. "Look, I...I couldn't leave Hearst even if I wanted to. I owe Max. He's kept me safe from bullies for years!"

Autumn looked at him, a sad look in her eyes. "Nishan, he's exploiting you! Is this like some find of advanced stage of Stockholm syndrome?"

"No. Maybe," Nishan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, we've got a symbiotic relationship, like those little fish that cling to sharks...that reminds me...I need to go check on my fish tank..."

The two girls exchanged a look.

"Do you realise that in your _own _metaphor, you're a tiny fish clinging to a _shark_?" Autumn asked, wanting to clarify what Nishan said.

Nishan scowled a little. "This is high school Autumn! Open your eyes. Jocks rule the school and pick on nerds. No one cares about your personality until you get to college."

Autumn frowned, a determined look in her eye as she placed her hands on her hips. "You're wrong. It's not like that here and I'll prove it!" she declared, heading off towards Party Central. Nishan looked confused and Carlotta shrugged her shoulders and followed after the artist.

There was a small, party going on between the gamers, nerds and some of the student council members from what Carlotta could remember. And it proved to still be in full swing as she opened the doors and the artist looked back at Nishan.

His face was shocked, slowly turning into awe as he watched the academically talented students party like jocks and preps.

"Okay. I'll admit I'm surprised," Nishan confessed before turning to Carlotta. "Do you think if I came here, I'd be able to throw a party? I've always imagined I'd make quite the host. I know a stunning amount of magic tricks..."

Carlotta smiled at him. "At this school, you can be yourself. And everyone will support you," she informed him and he smiled back a thought crossed him mind.

"There's just one last thing..."

"Are we going to have to build a rocket?"

"No," he shook his head before frowning. "Well, yes, later. But right now, I'm worried about the...how do I put this nicely...musclebound, chest-thumping students..."

She raised a brow. "You mean...jocks?" she asked and he nodded.

"Sure, call them what you want. I..." Nishan's face fell slightly. "I realise now that the way the jocks treated me at Hearst was not okay. But I don't want to go from a frying pant to...well, another frying pan, I guess."

The two girls exchanged a look as Nishan continued to admit his worries.

"I saw that Julian joined your school. That guy was not exactly nice to me back when we were at Hearst together," the dark skinned nerd informed them and Autumn gave him a reassuring smile.

"Julian can be a little rough around the edges, but his bullying days are behind him," Autumn explained but Nishan didn't look convinced. With a sigh, Autumn gestured for him to follow her as the three of them headed to the main jock hangout.

A few waved and smiled at the presence of Carlotta and Autumn whilst a few other jocks cast a curious glance at the dark skinned teen accompanying them.

The three of them found Julian clipped to a mountain climbing wall, about to go up when he spotted the girls. A smile in greeting was on his face until his eyes fell on Nishan's figure.

"What's Hide-And-Go-Geek doing here?" Julian demanded with a scowl aimed at Nishan who flinched a little as Autumn gave the jock a look of disapproval.

"We're actually trying to recruit him to our school...and we need your help. You see, according to Nishan, you haven't exactly been nice to him in the past," she said pointedly and Julian rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed and ashamed.

"Yeah, okay. I might've been kind of hard on the guy," Julian admitted half-heartedly before turning to Nishan. "So what do you want to do to settle the score, little guy? Wanna punch me in the face a couple of times? I can take it."

Nishan didn't look too keen on the idea as he gave Julian a challenging look. "Given my soft, delicate hands, I think I'll pass on the punching. I suggest a game of wits! You against me on the checkered field of battle. Knights and bishops, kings and rooks! A true game of men!"

A look of confusion crossed Julian's face. "Are you...hitting on me?"

Nishan rolled his eyes with impatience. "I'm challenging you to a game of chess!"

The entire hangout fell silent as everyone waited eagerly for Julian's answer. He felt the eyes on them before his competitive nature kicked in and accepted Nishan's challenge.

**oOo**

_**Twenty Minutes Later...**_

Autumn and Carlotta were sitting in the chess section of the library in the main nerd hangout, both working on something as Nishan and Julian played chess. Both nerds were surprised that Julian held his own for so long.

Autumn was working on her log book for an art project while Carlotta was finishing her research essay for Ancient History when a high pitched alarm rang throughout the library.

Seeing as out of the four of them knew what that meant, Carlotta got up and headed upstairs to the computer labs where the security of the school had been set up and established.

Inside, Victor, the brown haired and blue eyed British genius behind the security software at the school, was watching security footage on his computer in the middle of the room.

"We have eyes on Dark Lord of Evil and Ice Queen in the school car park," Victor announced as Carlotta walked into the room, followed by an awed Nishan, a panicked Autumn and a confused Julian.

"Bring up the footage on the projector," Carlotta said as Victor quickly typed away onto his computer. A few moments later, the footage shot out onto the projector screen and displayed what the cameras had picked up.

"Since when did we have this?" Autumn questioned, curious about it as Carlotta gestured to Victor with a proud smile on her face.

"Ever since he joined the school," Carlotta answered. "And this is just a tiny piece of his work. Victor has invented and covered all security in the school."

"Easy as buttering up my crumpets in the morning, no big deal," Victor replied like it was no big deal, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. "I'm actually tempted to set off the sprinkles nearby to see if the Ice Queen will melt."

Nishan looked a little panicked. "Is he here to hit me? Because I have a shockingly low pain threshold..."

"We'll talk to him first," Carlotta decided firmly, wanting to avoid violence in anyway possible. "Julian, come with me and Nishan. Victor can you-"

"Already on it," he punched in a few buttons, allowing the footage to be recorded. It was a rule made by the principal that any interaction with Hearst High on school property must be recorded for legal reasons.

"Come on," Julian gestured for them to go as the two nerds followed him.

"You guys sure you've got my back? Because Max has the strength of a bull with the speed of a cheetah," Nishan quizzed before pausing as a thought came to him. "Hmmm...Note to self: add 'cheetah-bull' to genetic hybrid list...Beetah? Cheebull?"

"You'll be fine," Carlotta reassured him as they left the nerd hangout and headed towards the car park. With each step towards it, Nishan grew more nervous until they stood a few meters apart from Max and a _very _bored looking Kara.

"Uh, hey, Max," Nishan greeted nervously, making sure to stay a little bit behind Julian as Carlotta stood in the middle between the two guys. "You wanted to talk to me? With words and preferably not punches?"

Max was a good actor, Carlotta had to given him credit for that with the mockingly shocked look he placed on his face.

"Punches? Why would I punch you, Nishan? We just came here to talk. Didn't we, Kara?" Max looked at his girlfriend pointedly and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Nishan. We came here because we miss you so much. Please don't transfer away. That would be sad. Blah blah," Kara said in a bored tone, no sincerity in her voice at all.

Max didn't look too impressed with Kara lack of even trying to convince Nishan. "I'm serious, Nishan. I don't know what crazy ideas these losers have put in your head but you do not want to transfer. You're a valued student at Hearst!"

Nishan looked at Max warily. "Are you just saying that because I build you things? Because I'm your shark-cleaning fish?"

"I don't know what that means, but..." Max admitted before quickly fixing a smirk onto his face. "Is that so bad? I help you, you help me, no one gets hurt..." his gaze fell onto Julian. "Except for these losers here."

Nishan raised a brow. "Wow, Max, I have to say thanks but no thanks," he told the blonde jock who seemed surprised and shock that he didn't win the dark skinned nerd over. "You know, I always figured I had it pretty good for a nerd...I was being lovingly exploited after all."

He turned and smiled at Carlotta. "But now I realise that things don't have to be that way. People don't have to treat each other like that. Not here," he gestured to Julian. "I mean, look at Julian! I spent years terrified of that guy...and the two of us just played a game of chess!"

Kara looked a mixture of confusion and shock. "Julian played chess?! Did her, like, eat the pieces?"

Annoyance flashed onto Nishan's face as Julian and Carlotta glared at Kara. "See? That's what I'm talking about. That's what I want to get away from. The people here don't just want me for what I can do for them. They want me for _me_. And that's why I'm transferring."

At Nishan's words, Carlotta's mind wandered back to her time at her old school. Thinking back on it now, she was no different from Nishan.

_Both of us were used because of what our minds possessed, _Carlotta thought, a little bitterly, her hand clenching slightly at her side. Her thoughts tuned the nerd girl out that she missed most of what was said afterwards until Max and Kara began to walk away. When she came back to reality, Carlotta saw the surprised look on Nishan's face.

"I really just did that, didn't I? I'm not imagining it?" he stammered, pinching his arm slightly to check.

Carlotta chuckled a little. "Nope. You just stood up for yourself and made the best decision of your life," she held out her hand to Nishan. "Welcome aboard, Nishan."

* * *

**Songs: Power by BAP and Spring of Life by Perfume. One is Korean and the other Japanese...so yeah.**

**Anyway, our favourite resident nerd has arrived! Yay!**

**On a side not: Because I am Australian, writing this from Down Under, I would spell things differently from Americans. So while you guys spell realize wit would spell it like realise. So it is not a boo boo or a spell mistake. Just clearing that up.**

**Rate and Review!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Till The End

**Chapter Four:**

**Till The End**

_**Two Weeks Later...**_

_**Population: 75 Students...**_

Since Nishan had joined the school, he and Carlotta were often seen together, discussing ideas and such. Both of them were glad to have someone who understood their intelliectual conversations. And he and Victor got along great, the English hacker enjoying teaching Nishan a thing or too on hacking and setting up firewalls.

Carlotta smiled as she closed the door leading to the main computer room behind her, leaving the two of them alone as she headed downstairs. Along the way, she noticed Zoe and one of the few male cheerleaders, Elijah, leaving the main nerd hangout, hand in hand.

_Good for them, _Carlotta thought brightly, slowly heading down the steps before pausing mid-step. _I wonder who else is together?_

The nerd began racking her brain in thought, wondering who else were together when someone called her name. Carlotta looked over and saw Autumn running towards her, an excited look on her face.

"I knew I'd find you here," she beamed as the nerd joined her downstairs. "Remember when I suggested we do something in celebration of reaching over seventy students?"

"Yeah," Carlotta nodded, recalling the idea the artistic girl brought up after Nishan had been enrolled into the school.

"Have you ever heard of a school overnight? We get all the students together and camp out at the school," Autumn informed her as they headed outside, walking down the concrete path.

"Sounds like a fun idea. Why don't you go suggest it to Nathaniel?"

Autumn looked a little embarrassed at the mention of the student council president. "Well...it's your school."

Carlotta frowned and stopped walking. Autumn noticed her standing there and paused in mid-stride.

"Autumn, just because I opened it doesn't make it mine to run. There's a reason why we have the student council," she told her firmly and a little disappointed in Autumn. Without waiting for her to reply, Carlotta walked off, feeling annoyed.

Okay, granted she and her uncle opened the school but it didn't make it hers to run. The nerd began to feel like she was everyone's messenger girl, the one who everyone went to regarding funding or activites.

_Just a simple, high school life. Is that too much to ask? _Carlotta sighed, heading towards the statue dedicated to her grandmother, a white marble statue of the school emblem with a golden plague with the words, '_Go where you are celebrated, not tolerated. If they can't see the real value of you, it's time for a new start.'_

"Not much of a new start, grandmother," Carlotta murmured under her breath, a small, soft breeze caressed her cheeks, as if it were comforting her.

**oOo**

_**A Week Later...**_

The school campout had been organised sucessfully by the student council who made it look fantastic with ten-people tents set up around a few bonfires.

"Nice! I see the bonfire's raging and the tent are up," Payton complimented with an excited look on her nicely make-uped face and Carlotta couldn't help but agree.

Julian had spotted the nerd and prep standing there, taking in the sight and jogged over. "Hey, you made it. We're all set."

"Awesome, because people are starting to arrive and they're bringing a lot of stuff," Payton noticed as a few students walked past them. "I'll go find our tent and set up."

Carlotta nodded and watched the prep bounce off towards the tents, excitement evident in her footsteps. Julian was about to say something when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Just as Carlotta proceeded to follow after Payton, Julian stopped her.

"You're not gonna believe the text I just got," he told her with a furious look, holding out his Samsung Galaxy. Carlotta received the phone and examined the picture of the homecoming trophy with someone from waist down standing next to it with a baseball bat.

"'Show up at the Hearst Quarry before sundown...or say goodbye to your trophy,'" Carlotta read and frowned deeply. It didn't take a genius to work out that it was a set up, and it was obvious by who. "Victor's secruity should have picked that up straight away."

Her blue eyes scanned the crowd, searching for the resident Britsh soft-ware genius when her eyes fell on Allison, also known as Allis. As if sensing eyes on her, Allis's blueish grey eyes looked over before she wandered over to the two of them.

"Carly, is there someone you're looking for?" Allis questioned before letting a small smirk. "Is it a guy in particular?"

Julian's face went slightly red as he felt embarrassed whilst Carlotta didn't bat an eye.

"Not in that way," she responded in an unimpressed tone. "I was looking for Victor...and possibly Nishan."

Allis bit her bottom lip in thought, twirling a strand of her brown pixie cut hair, her tongue stuck out a little in the corner of her mouth. While the newest addition to the nerd hangout thought hard, Julian spotted Nishan and gestured for him to come over.

They showed him the message with the photo and Nishan snorted. "They really bothered to break in just to steal a hunk of polished, non-radioactive metal? Talk about misplaced priorities..."

A hostile crossed Julian's face as he took an intimidating step forward. "'Hunk of metal?' You've got no idea what you're talking about!"

Carlotta placed a hand on his arm, giving him a firm look. "Calm down, Julian. Nishan had nothing to do with this," she pointed out to him and he nodded, but seemed angrier.

"You'r right...it's Max and I am taking him down!" Julian swore, hitting his fist into his hand threateningly while she noticed Nishan visibly swallow in slight fear.

"Don't go tearing out there alone, it's not safe to do so," Allis informed him as Nishan turned to Carlotta.

"I thought you said Victor's secruity was top of the line."

"It _is_."

"Then why didn't it pick up anything?"

Allis realised something and suddenly looked ashamed. Carlotta and Nishan noticed this before looking at her, concerned. Allis twiddled her thumbs slightly, something she did out of habit.

"I uh...well..._may _have been put in charge today of secruity," Allis mumbled a little, ashamed as all three of them groaned in union. It was a known fact throughout Twin Wings that Allison Grace could _not _sit still and was always running off somewhere. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think anything would happen! Nothing ever does!"

Carlotta pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. "Just...go and settle in, Allison," she told her tiredly as Allis left the three of them.

Julian was looking at the female nerd expectantly. "Well? Do you got my back?"

"Stealing someone's trophy is just messed up and unacceptable. Whatever happens, I've got your back, Julian," she answered firmly, eyes filled with determination.

Julian nodded, regarding her in trust. "Thanks a lot, Carlotte. It means a lot."

Nishan however, frowned as he didn't understand. "I just don't understand why you care so much about some hollow, commemorative symbol...I mean, I can build you a new trophy if you want, with robot arms!"

Julian glared at Nishan, annoyed at the dark skinned nerd's words. "You just don't get it. You couldn't," he turned to Carlotta. "Come on, Carlotta. Let's go get that trophy back and show Max just who he's messing with!"

The jock turned to head off but Carlotta quickly grabbed his shoulder, halting him in his march. He gave her a questioning look as she sighed, shaking her head.

"Julian, I don't think going in there guns blazing is the smartest thing to do," she advised him and he frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why not?" he asked as she withdrew her hand.

Carlotta threw him a 'are you serious?' look. "The whole thing screams 'trap'. My bet is Max is going to have at least some backup with him."

"So what, we should just give up?"

"No way. We're going to get that trophy back, but we do it the smart way. The first step is to scout out this quarry and see just what Max has planned."

Julian nodded. "Sounds good," he said in approval as Carlotta's blue eyes scanned the crowd of students.

"We'll need someone who's good at deception and someone's who's good at scouting..." she trailed off once she had spotted her two students.

**oOo**

_**Thirty-minutes later...**_

Carlotta, Nishan, Autumn and Payton all waited for Julian, Simon and Amber to return from the quarry. Whilst they had waited, the students had finished preparing and were now getting into the overnight school campout.

"I hope Julian's okay," Payton bit her bottom lip in worry as Carlotta gave her a warm smile, the bon fire in front of them crackling against the wood.

"Hey, this is Julian we're talking about. He'll be fine," she reassured the prep. As if to further her point, Julian and the others arrived back from the quarry. Immediately, Carlotta and Autumn stood up.

The artist hugged Julian tightly, shaking with worry before pulling away in slight embarrassment. Julian looked over at Carlotta, his cheeks a bit pink as he coughed away the awkward silence.

"Carlotta was right," he announced to them, sitting down in between Autumn and Carlotta. "This whole thing's a setup."

Simon nodded, standing alongside Amber. "I went into the quarry pretending to be lost. Max was down there all right...and I have to say, he wasn't very impressed," the drama student informed them.

Autumn looked a little hopeful. "So he was there alone? He just wanted a fair fight?"

"Not exactly," Amber answered the artist. "While Simon was busy chatting Max up, I scouted the surrounding foliage with a ranger's expertise-"

"Zoe crept around in some bushes," Julian whispered to Carlotta.

"-I was incredibly sly and cunning-"

"Zoe stepped on a badger. It got ugly."

"Julian! I _have _ears!" Amber glared at him, putting her hands on her hips before sighing. "Point is, I saw two of Max's guys hiding in the bushes."

Carlotta shook her head, disgust written plainly on her face. "So that's Max's messed up plan. Lure Julian out by taking the trophy and then ambush him in the quarry."

"Max was never really the creative type...or the type to fight fair," Julian agreed, still angry about what they discovered at the quarry. Carlotta bit her bottom lip, her mind racing with ideas on how to go about it when Nishan cleared his throat.

"So...I realise no one asked my opinion...but if you guys really care so much about the trophy...then maybe it's time the ambushers became the ambushees," Nishan suggested, catching Julian's interest at once.

"What are you talking about?" the jock questioned as Nishan grinned at him.

"I'm saying, turn the tables! Flip the chairs! Do other violent acts to funiture!"

Julian snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at Nishan in disbelief. "Uh, yeah, big talk, little man, but how are we gonna do that?"

"Are you familiar with the Battle of Thermopylae?"

"Is that the metal band where they punch the pigs?"

Carlotta shook her head as Nishan sighed tiredly, having been the only two in their small group possessing the knowledge of the battle between the Spartans and the Persians in ancient times.

"Ah, the benefits of a classical education," Nishan responded with sarcasm whilst pinching the bridge of his nose. "Let's just say I think I can help you get your trophy back."

"And why would you help us? I thought you didn't care about 'some dumb trophy'." Julian asked, using his fingers as air quotation marks.

Nishan didn't look fazed by Julian's actions. "I don't. But you do. And if Hearst High messes with one of us, they mess with all of us!" he paused for a moment. "Well, mathematically, still one of us. But in a non-mathematical way, _all _of us!"

Carlotta's eyes widened as she realised what he had planned to do when he gave her a pointed look. "Nishan, you're not going to..."

"It's ready, think of this as the test run we've been meaning to do," Nishan reassured her but she bit her bottom lip, not very convinced.

**oOo**

_**Twenty minutes later...**_

Nishan had already left the car to hide in the specific spot whilst she and Julian still sat in his car until the dark skinned nerd gave the all go.

The jock had noticed her biting her bottom lip, her fingers gently twisting the end of one of the strands of her dark brown hair. "Hey, you okay?"

"Not really," Carlotta admitted, looking at him nervously. "I've never done something like this before."

"Really?"

"Sarcasm isn't nice, Julian."

Julian chuckled before patting her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I've got your back and you've got mine. Not to mention Hide-And-Go-Dork is there with that paintball gun you two built."

"Yeah, I feel _very_ reassured," Carlotta placed her forehead in her hand.

"Carlotta," Julian called her name in a dead serious tone, forcing her to look at him in surprise. His brown eyes bore into hers, making her heart flutter slightly. "You and I are going to go down into the quarry and get that trophy back. Then, when Max and his goon squad strike...Nishan hits them with the little surprise. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

To her surprise, the nerd girl found herself believing the jock's words and nodded, swallowing her nerves as Julian's phone buzzed, signalling Nishan was in position.

"Let's get this over with then," Carlotta murmured, sliding out of Julian's car with him following her lead. They walked down the quarry, finding Max standing in the middle with the trophy by his side.

"Hey! Is that you out there, Julian?" Max called out. "Why don't you quit skulking around and come out and fight?"

Julian's fists clenched with anger as they stepped into the small amount of light the moon had provided. "Skulking? That's a fancy word, Max! Been hitting the books?"

"Not as hard as I'll be hitting you," Max retorted before gazing at Carlotta who stood beside Julian, arms crossed over her chest. "This isn't your fight, Carlotta. Back down."

"You made it my fight when you broke into our school and stole the trophy," Carlotta shot back, annoyed at him. "Give us the trophy first, then we'll talk."

"You want it? Come and get it," Max smirked at Julian who took a step forward. Carlotta stopped him, placing her hands on his chest and stepping in front of him.

"Julian, stay cool remember? It's a trap," she reminded him quietly as he took a deep breath to calm himself down. The nerd turned her blue eyes back on Max, filled with disgust. "We know you have back up."

He chuckled. "Why am I not surprised? Of course you knew I'd bring a little backup," he said, waving his hand. Two burly football players walk out from the bushes behind him.

"So much for a fair fight, huh?" Julian growled in fury as Max looked at them coldly.

"Oh, I think this more than fair. You beat my team in front of my dad! You humilated me!" Max spat vemonously. "The way I see it, I owe you some payback."

Julian grabbed Carlotta's wrist, pulling her closer to him. "Yeah, well, the funny thing about that is...you're gonna owe me a lot more. Now!"

Behind the two of them, Nishan bursts out of the bushes with a state-of-the-art paintball gun the two of you had built together from scratch. "Say hello to my appropriately-sizef friend!"

Julian pushed Carlotta down to the ground with him, making sure to cover her as best as he could with his body. Shots fired above them, covering Max and his goons in pink paint. Max falls back, leaving the trophy unguarded.

Without thinking, Carlotta scrambled to her feet and raced forward, snatching the trophy. "I got it!" she shouted, ducking and heading back to Julian who was now standing beside Nishan who continued to fire shots.

She tugged both of their hands, signalling that it was the best time to run. All three of them bolted to Julian's car, starting it up and speeding off while Nishan continued to shoot through the window.

"Now _that_ was satisfying," Julian cheered, grinning from ear to ear.

"And the trophy is safe," Carlotta agreed, the trophy sitting comfortably on her lap as they drove back to school. "In the condition it was in when we got it. I told you I had your back."

Julian nodded, smiling at her whilst Nishan rolled up the window from the back seat, having ceased his trigger-happy display. "I never had friends watching my back before. It's pretty cool. Thanks, Carlotta. Seriously."

He glanced at Nishan through the review mirror. "And you...Nerditron...you're not bad."

"Wow, Julian, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Nishan said in awe and the jock rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't let it go to your head, nerd!"

Carlotta giggled. "Now there's the Julian we all know and love."

* * *

**Song: Till the End from Kamigami no Asobi ~ translation is Mischief of the Gods. A fucking awesome anime to go check out #Loki4Ever**

**I have also started a tumblr for Carlotta and post things up on there, along with this so go check that out!**


	6. Chapter 5 - Ghost

**Chapter Five:**

**Ghost**

_**A Week Later...**_

_**Population: 78 students...**_

It was a rare occasion for Ellen, Carlotta's mother to join her daughter for dinner, even rarer that her uncle was there as well as some sort of family event.

Joanne had made a simple meal consisting of meat loaf and garlic bread with red wine poured for the adults and apple cider for Carlotta. The dining room was filled with a tense silence as they all expected one thing: Ellen being called back to the office.

It was something that was bound to happen, something Carlotta was used to. But deep down, she prayed that it wouldn't happen. She wanted this family time, she craved it after all.

"So how is school?" Ellen questioned her daughter, starting up a conversation.

"We recently had a over-night sleep over at the school with the student body," Carlotta answered, sneaking a look at her mother who continued to eat without looking up once. "That's why I wasn't home that night."

Ellen frowned slightly. "I wasn't aware of this," she turned her gaze to her brother. "Did they not have to sign permission notes?"

Richard grapsed his wine glass and took a small sip of the red wine inside. "I signed it for her," he revealed before taking another sip, avoiding his sister's narrowed eyes.

"Richard, I am her parent! How dare you sign something without my knowledge or consent!" Ellen exclaimed, disgust and fury painted on her face.

Carlotta shrank back into her seat as Richard glared at his sister. "Mother...I tried to tell you about," the nerd said quietly but Richard snorted at her words.

"She didn't tell you because you pay more attention to that damn company than your daughter," Richard informed his sister, his voice thick with a disaproval tone. "In your obvious absence, I signed it _for _you."

_So much for the family time, _Carlotta thought miserably as her mother and uncle began arguing about the company and little things in general.

"You're just like him! He was never around or made time for us! And remember when you swore you would never become him?" Richard fired at her as Ellen's lips twisted into a scowl.

"That was a child's promise. Who else was going to take over the company when our parents died?" Ellen fired back at, standing up and slamming her hands onto the table. "_I_ gave up my choice so _you_ could go to college and become a teacher. So _you _could get your degrees and the life you wanted!"

The sound of Ellen's phone ringing cut them both off as Carlotta watched her mother carefully. They all knew what that call contained as Richard gave his sister an expectant look.

"Go on, answer the phone and return to that office of yours while I raise your daughter _for you_," Richard told his sister in a cold tone as Ellen paused, glancing at her daughter.

Carlotta could see the regret in her mother's eyes and just looked away, standing up and mumbling an excuse before escaping to her bedroom. Most mothers would chase after their daughters but Carlotta didn't expect something that would never happen.

There was a soft knock at her bedroom door but she didn't get up to answer it. Instead, she sat by the window and gazed out, the moonlight shining on her face.

"Hey, kiddo...do you want to talk about it?" Richard called through the wooden door as Carlotta bit her bottom lip, holding back the flood gates.

No, she didn't want to talk about it.

**oOo**

_**Early Next Morning...**_

She carried on like last night hadn't happened and Richard respected her desire to not talk about it. While he surrounded himself with administrational matters, Carlotta focused on her high school life.

The brunette was sitting under a shaded tree, reading _Clockwork Prince_ as she was up to date and on top of her school work, relaxing. She was so absorbed into her book, getting to the exciting part as Jeb proposed to Tessa, she failed she notice Julian standing in front of her.

The jock had to call her name several times before she heard it at all. Blinking behind her glasses, she glanced up at him as he gave her an amused look.

"Sorry Julian...did you need something?" she asked him as he sat down next to her, glancing at the book. "What?"

"I thought you'd read other types of books...like Shakespeare or something," he admitted honestly. "Not the kind Hope reads."

Carlotta frowned slightly but her lips twitched in amusement. "Did you just stereotype me?"

"Maybe...anyway I need to talk to you about another anyonmous text I just got," he informed her of the text just as Autumn walked over with Payton. A strange look passed through the artist's eyes but it was gone as soon as it came.

"How's everything going with the text?" Autumn asked Julian, having already known beforehand. A small pain of jealousy hit Carlotta who grimaced, rubbing her chest slightly and trying to ignore it. "Do you know who could be sending us these?"

Julian shook his head in annoyance, leaning his head against the tree. "It's got to be someone from Hearst High...but who? I mean, they hate us!" he exclaimed in frustration at the mystery.

"Maybe it's someone who wants to transfer," Carlotta suggested, bookmarking the page and closing the book, placing it on her lap. "It's just a theory after all."

Payton cleared her throat, gaining their attention. "Who cares? If we've got a traitor helping us, that's good, right?"

The jock scowled slightly. "I don't like it. We don't know anything about this person. It could be a trick."

"Every text has helped us out so far," Carlotta pointed out to him, firmly looking at him. "The latest text is just giving us a warning that Max is up to something and we should be prepared for anything. With over seventy students, Max is trying a new way to shut down our school."

Julian looked at her, frowning slightly. "But what is it? I don't know about you, but I'm tired of getting blindsided by that guy," he declared as Autumn snapped her fingers, thinking of something.

"If you really want answers...I know this guy, Wes, at Hearst High," Autumn offered and Carlotta gazed up at her.

"Do you think he's the one sending the texts to Julian?"

Autumn shook her head, a sad look on her face. "No. I doubt it. He never helps anyone unless there's something in it for him," she said quietly, wrapping and arm around herself.

From her tone and expression, Carlotta assumed there was a history between Autumn and this Wes. Something more than just friends.

"And he's a friend of yours?" Julian questioned, his expression displaying his disapproval for all of them to see.

"I know he sounds kind of sketchy, but he can usually get you any information you need, and he's not loyal to Max," Autumn quickly defended her friend. "I can set up a meeting...but he's always got an angle, and you might not always like how things go when he gets it."

Carlotta's mind kept flicking back to the previous night, the arguement between her mother and uncle. She was so absorbed into her thoughts that she failed to hear Payton call her name. It wasn't until Julian gently shook her shoulder did she jumped slightly and frowned at him for an explanation.

"You okay?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern and made her heart beat a little fast.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she blinked, shaking her head and looking at them. "Let Autumn set up the meeting. Let's figure out their next move before Hearst messes with us."

Autumn nodded and headed off, pulling out her small phone to make a call. Payton just grinned wickedly, reminding the nerd about a cat eating a canery while Julian sighed, running a hand through his short hair.

"Autumn has some kind of history with Wes?" Carlotta raised a brow at the prep who nodded enthusiastically. "And you look like you're about to squeal because...?"

"Because Mr Jock here doesn't like it," Payton grinned wickedly at the obviously tense Julian who just scowled at her. "Don't deny it."

"He just seems sketchy to me," Julian corrected her, getting up onto his feet and crossing his arms over his chest briefly. "I don't like him."

"You haven't met him yet!"

"Neither have you!"

A look of confusion was painted onto Carlotta's face as she gave them both strange looks. "Wait, you _never _met him? Didn't he go to the same school as you?"

Payton shrugged her shoulders. "I've never heard of him," the dark skinned prep answered which said a lot. Payton knew _everyone_ at Twin Wings.

Autumn walked back over to them, a small smile on her face. "Wes agreed to meet up with us at the quarry."

"Let's go then. I'll drive," Julian announced before holding out his hand to Carlotta. She stared at him before giving him a questioning look. "You take it and I help you to your feet. I thought you were the genius here?"

She pursed her lips into a thin, unamused line as she stuffed her book into her small, light blue checkered back pack before grabbing his hand. His warm hand helped her onto her feet before almost hesitantly pulling away.

"Come on," Julian muttered, a tinge of pink colouring his cheeks as he turned his back to her before heading off. "Hey Prep! No Disney songs on my stereo!"

Carlotta watched his retreating back, feeling her own cheeks turn a similar colour before following after her friends.

**oOo**

_**Twenty Minutes Later...**_

A _very _sketchy teenager with brown hair, dressed in ripped jeans and a dark grey hoodie stood in the middle of the quarry as they arrived.

The instant he saw Autumn, a soft look passed through his eyes. "Autumn. Hey. Haven't seen you around in a long time. Hearst High isn't the same without you."

Autumn mirrored his look but mixed in with an apologetic look. "Yeah, I'm sorry I transferred without telling you...but I had a feeling you'd know," she replied.

"Yeah, I have my ways. But y'know, someday you're going to have to stop running away from your problems."

Autumn gave him an annoyed expression. "Look, I didn't come here so you could recap my life. We need your help."

Wes crossed his arms across he chest, taking in the company Autumn kept when his eyes fell on Carlotta. An amused look flashed through his eyes before turning to the artist. "I get it. A business call. So what can I do for you?"

Julian jumped right in. "We know Max is planning something big against us. We want to know what it is."

"Max, huh?" Wes whistled out loud, scratching his chin slightly. "You sure are good at picking enemies. That guy's tough to get information out of. I could tell you what's _really _in the cafeteria tacos. I could tell you who next year's Prom Queen will be. But getting to Max? That'll take some finesse."

"Are you able to get the information we need?" Carlotta clarified, a bad feeling crossing her stomach. "That's all I want to know."

"Hold on a second, Charlotte," he smirked, using her full name which in turn, only made Carlotta narrow her eyes at him. "It's not going to be easy...and that means it's going to cost you."

_Of course it will, _she sighed tiredly, crossing her own arms over her chest. "Name your price."

"Information. I deal in secrets, so I'm going to need some secrets in return," Wes explained, watching them tense up slightly. "There's going to be a break up at your school, soon. A big one. When it happens, I want to know who broke up with who, who cried about it the most and what was said after. I want to know _everything_. Got it?"

Autumn frowned at the slacker. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Maybe something, maybe nothing," Wes answered her vaguely before flicking his gaze to Carlotta. "Let's just say there _might _be an interested party at Hearst High."

Carlotta tensed up slightly, her hands turning into fists as her arms remained crossed against her small chest. "Okay, we'll let you know," she informed him.

He held out his hand to her and after a few moments of hesitation, the nerd took it and shook it firmly before both of them pulled away.

"It's a deal then. Come back when you've got the dirt on the breakup," Wes said before disappearing into the bushes. The four of them stood there in silence before Carlotta broke it, throwing her head back and groaning loudly.

"Why do I feel like we just made a deal with the devil himself?" she wondered out loud and Autumn chuckled dryly, understanding her words.

"Wes gets that a lot. But you just need to get to know him," the artist informed them as Julian scoffed at the idea.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass on that. We just have to get him what he wants to know."

**oOo**

_**Two Days Later...**_

Carlotta and Elyon were walking together, chatting about a mixture of politics just as screams could be heard further ahead. The nerd and the red haired wallflower exchanged a look before heading off, finding the source to be Ella and Elijah.

_I have a bad feeling about this, _Carlotta bit her bottom lip as her stomach twisted in knots filled with dread as she witnessed the massive breakup between the cheerleader and the prep.

When Ella stormed off, tears running down her face, Elyon watched after her, torn for her close friend.

"Go, she needs you more than politics," Carlotta encouraged her and Elyon nodded.

"Thanks, I'll see you later," she waved before running after Ella. As the wallflower left, Autumn approached with a sad look on her face.

"I think this was the break up Wes was talking about," Autumn said quietly. "So sad..."

Carlotta nodded her head in agreement, moving a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "Text it to Wes and tell him what happened."

**oOo**

_**Ten Minutes Later...**_

_**Behind Hearst High Gym..**_

"I don't really trust this guy," Julian grumbled as he, Autumn and Carlotta arrived at the location where Wes had texted Autumn for them to meet up with him.

"I trust him," Autumn defended her friend. "Besides, it's not like we've got any better options."

Carlotta sighed, placing her hands on her hips as she gazed around the scenery as Julian's phone went off. The jock checked it as a look of alarm flashed onto his face.

"I just got another text, it says '_trap!'_" Julian informed them, tensing up as Autumn frowned.

"Wes wouldn't set us up, that's impossible," the artist stated just as Mia, Max's little sister, runs from the other side of the alley waving her cell phone frantically in the air.

"Julian! Carlotta! You idiots, do you not know how to read?!" she exclaimed. "Get out of here! Wes set you up! He told Max everything!"

Autumn looked crestfallen at the information while Julian frowned in surprise. "Wait a minute...Mia's the one who's been helping us?"

"Oh no, I'm too late! Look out!" Mia shouted as Carlotta glanced up above them. Max and his friends lean out of the windows pouring out spoiled mayonnaise. The thick, smelly globs rains down on them.

Automatically, Carlotta shoved Autumn out of the way and tried to do the same to Julian, only to trip and knocking him to the ground, landing on top of him as the mayo slopped down, covering Mia, mostly Carlotta and a bit of Julian.

"Carlotta, you alright?" Julian asked as she climbed off of him, her cheeks feeling hot under the mayonnaise. "Dammit, you took most of it."

"I know, I can smell it," she wrinkled her nose in disgust as he leaned over, wiping away some of the mayonnaise that got close to her eyes.

"Eeek! It's running down my back!" Mia squealed in disgust as Max noticed in horror of his sister's presence.

"Mia...what are you doing down there? Why were you trying to warn them?" Max demanded the answers from his little sister who in turn, just glared at him with her hands on her hips.

"Because! I've been trying to help them!" she snapped back at him, shocking her brother. "I told them about your dumb plan to steal their plays _and _about the cupcakes."

"Mia...I can't believe it," Kara shook her head in disbelief.

A look of fury crossed Max's face. "_Why _would you do something like this?"

"Hearst High isn't the same for me, Max. Dad loves you. You're his perfect football hero son. You get to do whatever you want. He treats me like a prisoner. He won't let me date who I want to date. He won't let me do what I want to do," she spat in her own anger, mixed with sadness and bitterness. "And you and Kara are even worse. If I stay at Hearst High, I'll always be living in your shadows, and I'm sick of being told what to do!"

The blonde cheerleader turned and faced Carlotta. "I wanted to leave, but there'd be nowhere to go if you guys messed up Carlotta's school," she said before focusing her gaze back on her brother. "So I told them about some of your stupid plans."

Max looked a little torn and annoyed. "Mia...calm down. You don't know what you're saying. Look, there's not even going to be another school soon. You're wasting your time."

Carlotta frowned, standing up and ignoring the mayonnaise dripping down her body. "What are you talking about, Max?"

"No big deal," he shrugged his shoulders, smirking slightly at her. "Just that the mayor, who happens to play golf with my dad, heard about your little school starting up...and he thinks it's time for a little surprise inspection. You know, just to make sure your school is really providing the best educational environment for its students..."

Carlotta's hands clenched at her sides as a cold shiver ran down her spine, her stomach twisting in dred. "You bastard," she swore through gritted teeth, only making Max's smirk even wider.

"Never thought the esteemed Charlotte would curse," Max clucked his tongue in disapproval. "If it turns out that your school is found lacking, then...well, I guess he'd have no choice but to shut down your school."

"No one's closing our school," Carlotta shouted at him before turning on her heel, walking off and back to the school. _I swear to you, grandmother. No one is shutting it down and I am _not_ going back to Athena..._

* * *

**Song: Ghost by Ella Henderson**

**Okay, so I know I said this would be a MCXWes fic but after doing some things, I realised Julian would be better for Carlotta. Of some of you still want a MCXWes one, I'll be more than happy to include another MC of mine to hook up with Wes but that's only if you guys want that to happen.**

**Now I have made a tumblr blog for Carlotta where questions regarding the came or requests for fanfics or to add your MC into this fic will be accepted in my newly fixed ask box. The tumblr name is carlotta-the-winters so go check it out :D**


	7. Chapter 6 - Chasing

**Chapter Six:**

**Chasing**

_**Two Days Later...**_

_**Population: 80 students...**_

Her phone buzzed in her pocket just as she passed the school fountain. Pausing in mid-stride, Carlotta pulled out her phone and discovered that her mother was calling.

Biting her bottom lip, she pressed the call button and placed the phone to her ear. "Yes, mother?"

"_I'm calling to let you know I won't be home for dinner tonight as I have to stay at the office to organize the party for the launch of our newest partnership with Apple,"_ Ellen informed her daughter. _"A party which you will be required to attend. The party will be held in two days' time."_

Carlotta's jaw clenched as she continued to hear the list of requirements her mother expected of her for the party. "I better go find a dress then," she responded in a dry tone. The brunette noticed Mia heading towards her and offered her a small wave of her hand.

"_Charlotte, I expect nothing but perfect behavior tomorrow night. Am I understood?"_

"Yes mother," Carlotta answered quietly as the conversation ended. The nerd stared at her phone, her fist clenching at her side as Payton stormed over towards her.

"Carlotta, I heard a _crazy_ _rumor_ that you let that evil cheerleader into our school," Payton said, hands on her hips as she sent a glare to the blonde cheerleader in question who stood next to Carlotta.

"Oh, Payton! I remember you," Mia spat, sending an equally heated glare towards the prep. "The girl who ruined my party."

"That was an accident, and _way_ better than trying to ruin someone's social life on purpose! We don't need people like you here."

A hurt look flashed across Mia's face as her bottom lip trembled slightly. "But..."

Carlotta shifted her stance, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave the prep a tired look. "Look, Mia was the one who sent those text messages to Julian about what Hearst High was plotting. Can you at least give her a chance?"

Payton shook her head, eyes firmly on Mia. "You don't know her like I do. Trust me,_ no one_ is going to want her here. We all _hate_ her," she sneered, walking off as a frown etched itself onto Mia's face.

"But...I'm popular. And attractive. And rich...why would people hate me?" Mia asked in a shaky, quiet voice.

Carlotta exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Mia, that might have worked back at Hearst High but here that's not how things run. People here don't like you because you're popular. You're popular _because_ people like you."

"Is that, like, a Taylor Swift song?"

"No, it is not," Carlotta stated bluntly. "If you want people to like you, then you have to reach out to them and get to know them. Be nice to them. I saw on Nishan's facebook he's making a miniature sci-fi fan film today. If you show up and help, you might be able to get on his good side."

Mia thought about the idea as Carlotta received another text message. From her mother's secretary, Jona.

_~I have sent you some photos of dresses your mother suggests you wear for the party. Please disclose me on your preferred choice and I shall have it delivered to you immediately.~_

Without even glancing at the dresses, the nerd put her phone back into her pocket as Mia decided to help out Nishan.

"Are you okay, Carlotta?" Mia questioned as they headed towards the Nerd hangouts. "You've been quiet this whole time."

Carlotta forced a smile, waving off the concern. "I'm fine," she told the cheerleader as they arrived to where Nishan was shooting the fan film.

After Carlotta had explained the situation to him, Nishan looked at her with his mouth agape. "Mia, you really want to help me with my fan film? You were always so mean to me back at Hearst High..."

"Yeah, well, now I'm not okay? I'm totally into...whatever this thing is about," Mia snapped, gesturing to the set as a couple of filming talented kids were setting up the cameras.

"Oh, you'll be absolutely perfect! I was hoping we'd find a pretty girl to play the sassy companion," Nishan clapped his hands together, grinning widely.

"Thanks, I guess, but whose sassy companion am I, exactly?" Mia questioned,

"The Doctor's!"

"I am _not_ playing doctor," Mia exclaimed, hands on her hips whilst Nishan ignored her look.

"That's so something a companion would say. Roll cameras!" he ordered the film crew as Carlotta left Mia and Nishan. As she headed downstairs, Payton was waiting for her again.

"Why are you helping her?!" Payton demanded as Carlotta arrived onto the last step. The dark skinned prep's hands were on her hips as she gave Carlotta an expectant look. "She's just a spiteful, nasty, social-life ruining cheerleader!"

Fed up, Carlotta clenched her fists and glared at the prep. "Because _I _give people second chances instead of getting hung up on the past. People change Payton, now grow up because I have more important matters than your past with Mia!"

The nerd didn't realise she had shouted until the main area of the hangout fell silent and Payton's eyes were widened, a hand covering her mouth.

Shaking her head, the brunette stomped out of the hangout, ignoring the questioning looks as she headed to the carpark. Without a second thought, she jumped into her car and pulled out of the carpark, leaving the school.

**oOo**

_**Two Days Later...**_

She had been away for the last two days, staying home with a sudden stomach bug that came out of nowhere. Carlotta felt a little bad at disappearing on a bad note, but she was still annoyed with Payton.

_The whole purpose of building the school was to give others a chance to start anew, be who they are and be accepted for it, _she sighed tiredly, rubbing the hot water onto her arms as she relaxed into the bath tub.

A soft knock at her door interrupted her peace and quiet and she looked over, finding Joanne on the other side of the glass screen. "Joanne? Is something wrong?"

"Miss Charlotte's friends have arrived and are waiting for you in your bedroom," the British house keeper informed her before closing the door. Frowning slightly, Carlotta climbed out of the bath tub, wrapping her white robe around her body and entered her bedroom.

Inside, sitting on her bed were Autumn, Payton and Mia. Along with Nishan examining her many bookshelves and Julian standing by her desk.

"Why are you all here?" Carlotta asked, moving a strand of her wet hair behind her ear as Payton and Autumn stood up. "Did Hearst try and pull something again?"

"No, we were worried about you," Autumn explained as Payton ran over and pulled the nerd into a tight hug.

"I thought you weren't coming to school because of me! I was selfish and stupid," Payton sniffed as Carlotta smiled, hugging her back. "I honestly thought you hated me."

A small, gentle smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I was annoyed at you, yes, but I'm not petty enough to hate you for that. I had just caught a stomach bug," she explained as Joanne entered the room and held up the dress Carlotta was to wear for the party tonight.

Immediately, gasps came from Mia and Payton as they simultaneously exclaimed, "That's the latest Krikor Jabotian Couture dress line!"

Autumn looked confused as Carlotta received the dress and placed it on her bed as Giovanni, the family's personal hair and make-up artist gestured for Carlotta to follow him.

"If you guys will excuse me, I have to get ready," she apologized, heading for the doorway with the dress in hand before turning back to them. "You can chill in here if you want. I'll be back."

Giovanni smirked at her, a know-it-all look in his eyes as they headed to her mother's make-up parlor. Carlotta had seen his look and decided to ignore it, sitting herself down on the golden, vintage cushioned seat, facing the mirror.

"You have quite the friends, _mio bella," _Giovanni commented as he began styling her hair into a messy, bun at the back with the front sides of her hair pinned back into French braids. "I will make you irresistible. All the men will have their eyes on you."

Carlotta sighed as he moved onto her make-up, simple white eye shadow with Egyptian-styled eyeliner and mascara. Giovanni dabbed a light amount of clear lip gloss onto her lips before Joanne assisted her into the dress.

As the sleeves touched her shoulders, Giovanni studied her for a few moments, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Might I suggest the pearl earrings?" Joanne spoke up, seeing his internal debate as the Italian stylist snapped his fingers, grabbing the small pearl earrings from the jewelry box and approached Carlotta.

"_Fantastico_," Giovanni declared, having fixed the earrings onto the nerd's ears and Carlotta admired herself in the mirror, finding herself unrecognizable. "I am glad you had discarded the glasses. Your eyes are better to be shown, not hidden."

"You can thank Payton for that," Carlotta smiled and thanked him before heading back to her room, finding Payton and Mia exploring her closet, Nishan reading one of her books and Autumn and Julian chatting on her bed. "Sorry for making you wait."

Autumn glanced over at the sound of Carlotta's voice, only for her eyes to widen. Julian's jaw dropped open as he stared, Nishan nodding at her whilst the cheerleader and prep squealed at the sight of her.

"Oh my gosh! You're like a princess going to a ball," Payton sighed dreamily as she blushed in embarrassment. Carlotta couldn't help but look over at Julian who's face had gone bright red.

Mia giggled at the jock. "Look who's blushing," she teased him and he glared at her.

"I'm not blushing!" he denied furiously before glancing back at her. "Why you all dressed up like that for anyway?"

"A party for the company. We recently gained a partnership with Apple and it's to celebrate it," she answered, not looking forward to it at all.

"You don't look too happy about it," Autumn noticed as Carlotta bit her bottom lip while Payton frowned in confusion.

"But it's a party, why wouldn't you be happy about going to a party?"

Nishan cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Perhaps I can shed some light on this."

Julian crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah? What is it then?"

"Older men try to gain your favor in hopes of being rewarded later on down the track," Nishan answered confidently, but Carlotta shook her head. "I thought I was on to something…"

"I just don't like going," Carlotta answered truthfully.

**oOo**

She stood on the balcony, breathing in the cold, night air. Behind her was the hall filled with business men, their wives, other important associates and higher ranking members of both companies.

_Only one more hour to go,_ Carlotta reminded herself, keeping her eyes firmly on the time every now and then, trying to endure this pointless party.

Okay, granted it wasn't pointless as it showed the success of Free Wings to be able to form a partnership with none other than Apple. It meant more jobs, more employees and more money and power for the IT company.

What she did find pointless was her attendance here. She had ignored the shallow, empty compliments of her awards and her accomplishment of building her own school. It was worse when a few guests began thinking of sending their own children to Twin Wings. That was when Carlotta politely informed them that it was not a school you could gain high grades with bribery before excusing herself to the balcony.

The glass door to the balcony opened and Carlotta turned around, finding her mother giving her a less than impressed look as she closed it behind her.

"Charlotte, correct me if I am wrong, but I had specifically asked you for your best behavior," Ellen said, walking over to her.

"You had," Carlotta replied calmly, placing a hand on her hip. "And I have followed your instruction."

Ellen's eyebrow raised as she gave her daughter a doubtful and disappointed look. "Is that what you call informing our guests that bribery does not win you grades at our school?" she questioned in a blunt tone that made her flinch slightly. "That is no way to enroll more students! I thought you were smarter than that."

Carlotta clenched her fists at her sides, narrowing her eyes at her mother. "Excuse me? Since when had it become 'our' school? As far as I am concerned, it's Uncle Richard's and mine, you have no part in it."

"It's land is under the ownership of Free Wings—"

"Because grandmother stated it had to! You barely involved yourself into my life, let alone my school!"

Ellen rolled her eyes, putting both of her hands on her hips. "Is that what this is about? This is the reason you've been acting up because of that school. First thing in the morning, I'm enrolling you back at Athena."

Her heart froze as a cold chill ran down her spine, eyes widened as she stared at her mother. Finally, she found her voice as she glared.

"No."

Ellen blinked, obviously not expecting that answer. "Excuse me?"

Carlotta took a step forward. "You heard me. I said no. I refuse to let you control my life anymore! You say I'm acting up but my grades remain perfect, my attendance is perfect and I have done nothing but carried out what you have asked of me!" she declared in a cold tone, staring at her mother who seemed more like a stranger to her.

Ellen opened her mother to scold her but Carlotta cut her off.

"You say I'm acting up but I'm just being a teenager, something I was missing out on because you were trying to make me into you. News flash, _Ellen,_" she flinched at her name. "I'm not and I never will be."

Carlotta walked past her and grabbed the door handle, staring at it as her anger kept going. "I needed a parent and you were never there. Uncle Richard is more my father than you as my mother. Consider me moving out," she said but her voice shook as she held back the tears.

Carlotta opened the door and never turned back.

* * *

**Song: Chasing from Fairy Tail**

**Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit a the end. Some of you wanted to see more of Ellen and Carlotta's relationship and here it is. I've posted up a picture on Carlotta's blog if you would like to see on tumblr**


	8. Chapter 7 - You're The One

**Chapter Seven:**

**You're The One**

_**Two Days Later…**_

She opened the last box, finding her last and final set of books tucked away nicely into the brown cardboard box. Carefully lifting three, the nerd had placed them into her brand new bookshelf, given to her by her uncle.

Just as she placed the book onto the shelf, Carlotta's mind wandered back to the reason why she had been brought here; to her new home.

_She hasn't called or tried to contact me in any way,_ the bitter thought crept up into the back of her mind. She tried to ignore this fact but it couldn't help but show up. Her mother had contacted her to sort out this issue between them. _I guess I never mattered in the first place then._

Soft knocks at her bedroom door cause her to snap out of her thoughts and find her uncle standing in the doorway.

His blue eyes were filled with concern for his niece. "How are you settling in?"

"It's not much settling in to do," Carlotta pointed out, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Besides, we have more things to worry about."

"Leave the board members to me. Go and be a kid for once," Richard told her, walking over and kissing her head firmly. He looked into her eyes that were the same colour as his. "You can talk to me, you know that."

"There's nothing to talk about," she snapped, looking away as her fists clenched at her sides. She felt his hand stroke her hair for a few moments before pulling away and leaving the room. Leaving her to her thoughts.

If there was one thing she wanted the most from her mother, it was the truth. All her life, Ellen had been keeping things from her. From her whereabouts to the identity of her father. It wasn't like she hadn't asked her uncle and grandparents about him. She did and she would always receive the same answer: Ask your mother.

_I can start looking for him now, _she figured, turning to stare out her window as the sun gently set over the horizon.

**oOo**

_**Next Morning…**_

Autumn had ran up to Julian, a frown on her face as he continued to bench press in the main Jock hangout.

"Julian!" the artist called to him just as he finished his 50th bench press. "Have you seen Carlotta?"

Julian lifted his arms up, feeling the burn as he went for 51. "Have you checked the Nerd hangout?" he grunted, lifting it up and bringing it back down.

"Yeah and she wasn't there. Nishan said he hadn't seen her all day."

"What about her usual spot?"

"No sign of her."

Now he frowned and lifted the weight back onto the hook, sitting up and grabbing the white towel next to him. He dabbed his face from the sweat as he looked at Autumn.

"Have you checked with Principal Winters?" Julian questioned, figuring her uncle might know where his niece was.

Autumn sighed, shaking her head as her shoulders slumped. "He's not in today. Apparently he's gone to a meeting with the mayor."

He rubbed his chin lightly, staring at the floor in thought. If Carlotta wasn't at her usual spots, where could she be?

His mind wandered back to three days ago, when they met up at Carlotta's house to find out why she hadn't been to school. Despite looking beautiful in the dress that made his heart race, Julian saw the usual twinkle in her eyes missing. There was no excitement or interest, just boredom.

_Sometimes, the least likely places to end up are the obvious places,_ Carlotta's advice to Mia ran through his mind and he knew where she was.

"I'll be right back," Julian stood up suddenly, heading out of the hangout. Autumn called out to him but he ignored her as he jogged along the path. Other students smiled and waved at him in greeting as he continued.

When the field came into view, his eyes scanned the surrounding area. He knew she was here….she had to.

Bingo.

Sitting on bleachers was the brunette who made everything possible. She wore her usual black rimmed robin glasses, a light brown high waist skirt with a plain, light grey long sleeved shirt. It was the distant look she held and the abandoned book next to her that got Julian concerned.

He jogged over, climbing the bleachers until he was standing in the row she sat. "Carlotta?" he called, effectively grabbing her attention.

Carlotta turned towards the voice and saw Julian standing there. "Hmm? Is something wrong?"

_Why is she acting so polite? _He wondered as he walked over and sat down beside the female nerd. "Autumn was looking for you…you're never around the field unless Payton drags you."

"I had wanted to admire it," Carlotta responded but he noticed her hand clenching slightly on her lap. Without even thinking, he reached over and covered his larger one over her small one. Immediately, those blue eyes gazed at him in confusion before filling with tears. "Julian…"

"Tell me," he murmured as Carlotta shifted closer, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. Usually he was awkward with girls and tears, despite having a little sister and many female friends. But this time, he just brought her closer and kept quiet.

It took five minutes, but eventually her sobs subsided and Carlotta was wiping her eyes.

"I am so sorry…that was so stupid of me…" she apologized, her head hanging low and he shook his head, pulling her close and giving her a hug. "Julian what are you—"

"I'm not so good with words, but you've always had my back and I've always got yours," Julian muttered, his cheeks feeling hot as Carlotta pulled back slightly, staring at his face. She saw the blush, could no doubt feel his heart hammering away in his chest. "You know you can tell me anything."

Carlotta let out a bitter laugh. "You sure you can handle this real life family drama?"

"It can't be as bad as Mia's."

**oOo**

_**Ten Minutes Later…**_

"—And now I'm at a loss of what to do next," Carlotta finished explaining to Julian who, to his credit, stayed silent as she explained what was going on in her life, her lack of relationship with her mother, moving in with her uncle, and wanting to find her father. When he didn't say anything, she took a peek at him through a small gap in her hair.

Julian was staring out, a hard look on his face. He slowly exhaled, closing his eyes briefly before narrowing his eyes in slight anger at her. "Why didn't you ever tell any of us this before?"

"Because it's not something high school students have to deal with," she answered, removing her hair shield and looking at him point on.

"You're one too, you know," he pointed out and she opened her mouth to respond but the words died on her lips. He was right, no matter what argument she may try next. "Don't bottle this stuff up again. Heck, I'll even be a punching bag if it helps you out."

Despite her mood, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly into a smile at the idea of her punching Julian in the chest furiously. Julian must have pictured something similar as he too was chuckling a little.

"Surprisingly, I feel better," Carlotta admitted, glancing at the jock. The way he smiled, his brown eyes lighting up in amusement, made her heart pound slightly. Shyly, she leaned over and kissed his cheek before pulling back immediately and watching his reaction.

Julian wasn't laughing anymore. In fact, his mouth was opened slightly, eyes widened and his face and ears red.

Her stomach twisted slightly. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that—" she broke off as Julian returned the same gesture, making her freeze in shock and embarrassment. Her questioning eyes turned to him as he cleared his throat, still a bit red in the face.

"I uh…I like you…and hope you do too," he muttered, scratching his nose a little as slowly, she smiled at him and nodded.

"What now?" she asked, having no clue on what the proper protocol was after admitting to your crush that you liked them. Julian opened his mouth to answer when Payton's voice called across from the field.

"Carly! There you are!" Payton squealed, running up towards her as Carlotta and Julian's awkward moment shattered. "Where did you guys find Ezra? He is totally hot!"

A frown appeared on her face. "Ezra?"

"Didn't you scout him?" Payton asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. "He's a musician who said he got a music scholarship with Free Wings."

_If this is her attempt at trying to have a say in the school, she's really missing the mark, _Carlotta clenched her fist as Julian placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a look on concern.

"Payton, I can assure you that I had no idea of any scholarship being handed out."

* * *

___**Song: You're The One from some Barbie movie. I blame the kids I babysit who force me to watch these movies.**_

_**This was mainly a Point A to Point B chapter, nothing too major except:**_

_**JARLOTTA SHIPPING!**_

_**Now they haven't actually discussed as to what is happening, but that's what the next chapter is for ;)**_

_**And I want to give a special shout out to Kelsey who is unfortunately left tumblr due to the anon hate she received. I want you all to realise that we're all human with emotions and it hurts to see things like this happen.**_


	9. Chapter 8 - Moon Pride

**Chapter Eight:**

**Moon Pride**

_**That Night….**_

Carlotta sat on her bed in her room, textbooks sprawled out, pieces of paper with scribbled notes drawn onto them as her Apple Mac laptop sat snuggly in her lap. Her blue eyes were narrowed at the screen carefully, her mind taking in the information as her fingers danced along the keyboard.

Her concentration was shattered as her mobile ran beside her bed. Sighing, she reached over and saw it was Kayla Emmick calling her. Figuring it was something to do with the upcoming debate against Hearst High, she answered.

"Hello?" Carlotta spoke into the speaker.

However, the usually calm Student Government student was in hysterical.

"_I think Carlos and I are breaking up_," Kayla sniffed and the nerd frowned slightly.

"What gave you that idea?"

"_He's never spending any time with me! All he cares about is getting some achievement on some stupid game!"_

Carlotta exhaled, removing her glasses and rubbing her tired eyes. "Wouldn't someone like Payton be better at giving you…advice? I'm not exactly an expert in this area."

"_Haven't you experienced something like this before?_"

Julian's face flashed through her mind, making her cheeks burn bright red and she swallowed.

"I…Just call Payton or even talk to Carlos about it. You need to make sure you two sort this out before your debate on Friday," The nerd evaded the question smoothly as Kayla groaned into the speaker.

"_You're right. I shouldn't be moping around like this," _Kayla agreed, sighing a little. "_Thanks Carlotta. I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Take care," Carlotta replied before hanging up and staring at her phone for a moment. The urge to call a certain jock almost overwhelmed her, but luckily she pushed it to the back of her mind.

_I need to finish this report, _she reminded herself, placing her phone back onto the side table and putting her glasses back on.

**oOo**

_**The Next Day…**_

Okay, she was avoiding him a little bit.

For some reason, the idea of confronting Julian about their kiss scared her. Granted, it was just on the cheek and not her actual first kiss but she hadn't experienced something like this before. She was at a total loss as what to do in this situation. Was she supposed to bring it up? Act like nothing happened?

Okay, sure, they _both_ admitted they had feelings deeper than friendship…but what now?

And to top it off, she now had to deal with the sudden appearance of the scholarship winner, Ezra. He wasn't that bad of a guy, but Carlotta's paranoia was getting to her. She honestly believed that her mother sent him as a way to show she was contributing to the school, as well as keeping tabs on her.

The nerd paused in her stride, threw her head back and groaned loudly. "Why is everything so complicated?" she wonder out loud before watching other students walk by.

Many of them were smiling, chatting with each other. At a normal school, many of the social cliques would _never_ associate with each other; nerds wouldn't be laughing with jocks, cheerleaders would rather be dead than even dare to share food with an artist or musician.

_I have to protect this school….I won't let Max win; _Carlotta clenched her fist at her side before jogging towards the main artist hangout. Autumn had found out information about the school inspection and wanted the gang and for some reason, Ezra, to meet up for a plan.

As soon as she stepped through the door, the smell of paint, clay and incense hit her nose like a wave of scents. Sitting around the largest table with a moveable whiteboard were the others.

"Glad you could make it, Carly," Payton beamed and she smiled back before sitting down in between Mia and Nishan. Autumn was standing up by the whiteboard with a marker in hand.

The female nerd could feel a certain jock's gaze on her and she looked over at him, giving into temptation. As soon as their eyes met, he gave her a small smile to which she returned before paying attention to the artist.

"—the school inspection is going to be conducted by three members of the state board. One of them is the President of the local Actors' Guild, Mr. Kernsprickle," Autumn informed them, circling the name 'Kernsprickle' in red marker. "We know he cares about the performing arts so we've just got to do something to impress him."

Mia raised an eyebrow. "So what? We throw on a play to get his good vote?"

"It's Carlotta's decision," Nishan pointed out, having everyone look at the nerd in question. "This is her school after all."

Carlotta placed a strand of hair behind her ear. "We'll put on a play and invite him within a week. I believe we can pull this off."

Autumn nodded, beaming at the idea. "Great! I'll talk to Simon and see if the Drama Club can help out."

"In the meantime, I want Nishan to work with Victor and update the security," she continued, standing up and looking at the dark skinned nerd. "There is no doubt in my mind that Kara and Max will try and pull something, sneak in or whatever. They are not to get into the school."

"It'll be like the Eye of Saron watching them," Nishan grinned back as the others began getting up, gathering their things to leave. Ezra immediately began flirting with Payton who obviously loved the attention, Mia was chatting with Julian about something jock-related so Carlotta saw her chance to escape.

As she tried to walk past them, Julian called out her name. She froze and waited, hearing his footsteps walking towards her.

_Please don't bring up the kiss, _She prayed in her mind as she turned around to face him.

"Hey, could we talk?" he asked, gesturing for them to leave the hangout. Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded and followed him outside of the hangout. The pair walked in silence for a moment, no words uttered between them. "Look, about that kiss—"

Carlotta paused in her steps and looked at him. "Was….was it a mistake?" she questioned, not liking the gut retching feeling in her stomach at the very idea.

"No!" Julian quickly reassured her a little loudly, drawing the attention of some students. The jock waved away their prying eyes before stepping closer to the nerd. "No…I just wanted to know what you wanted to do. I mean, I told you that I liked you and you agreed with me—"

Carlotta lightly placed her hand over his lips, a small smile on her face. "Julian, you're babbling."

"Right, sorry."

"I'm not going to lie..." she swallowed, glancing at her feet slightly before gazing into his warm, brown eyes. "I have _never_ done anything like this before. I don't know the right protocol, what to do, what to say….so…"

Carlotta inhaled and exhaled slowly, calming herself down. "So if you will have me, I want more than just a friendship with you."

Julian's cheeks blushed lightly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly at her formal look on boyfriend/girlfriend. "You make it sound so official."

"Sorry," she apologized, blushing in embarrassment. "What now?"

"Now?" he lightly grabbed her small hands and entwined them with his own, larger ones. "Now you're my girl and we're going to kick ass at the performance and save our school."

**oOo**

_**A Week Later…**_

_**Population: 94 students…**_

Seeing as how it was a case of the experienced teaching the inexperienced, Julian took it slowly with Carlotta whilst the entire school came together for the performance.

Carlotta was acting as stage manager for the performance of Romeo and Juliet tonight, Autumn and a few other artists and jocks were putting the stage together, Mia was directing the actors and dancers into place, Julian choreographing the fight scenes and Payton admiring Ezra as the dark skinned student in question was practicing with the other musicians.

"Isn't he just the dreamiest?" Payton sighed happily as Juliana and the other jocks took a break.

"What do you even see in that guy?" Julian shook his head at her as Carlotta held out a bottle of water for him, not glancing up from her paperwork.

"Yeah, an incredibly handsome guy who also happens to be a guitar genius. I wonder what girls see in him?" Carlotta teased her boyfriend, glancing up and finding a small pout on his face as Payton giggled. "Of course, handsome drummers have their own charms."

"Exactly! Thanks for actually having some taste," Julian exclaimed, taking a sip of his water whilst Payton rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"Carly doesn't count since she's your girlfriend!" Payton pointed out, watching as Julian shrugged his shoulders and Carlotta blush a little. She still hadn't gotten used to that title…

"I bet you couldn't be romantic even if it slapped you in the face," the prep continued to goad at Julian who raised a brow at the challenge.

"I'm staying out of this," Carlotta declared, getting back to her paperwork just as Julian snatched a script from Simon's hands. The jock studied the text for a moment before shaking his head.

"I-I….Let's get back to practice!" Julian barked at the other jocks, quickly escaping from Payton's amused laughter and Carlotta shaking her head at the prep.

"You didn't need to tease him so much."

"Why not? He's not a very romantic, open guy!"

Carlotta shook her head, standing up and gathering her notes and clip board. "You're wrong. Julian does things his way just as Ezra does things his way."

**oOo**

_**Later That Night, During the Intermission…**_

As the curtains closed for the intermission, Carlotta let out a sigh of relief for making it this far. Only a little bit more to go…

"Carlotta! We've got a crisis," a panicked Autumn appeared behind her as the students began setting up for the next scene. "Some people were sitting next to Kernsprickle, and he was complaining how much he prefers _musicals_!"

Payton overheard it, along with the rest of the gang and bit her bottom lip. "We've got to add some music in, fast!"

Carlotta pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to remain calm. A warm hand touched her shoulder and she glanced over, seeing Julian giving her a reassuring smile.

"We can do this. They do it every week on Glee, don't they?" Carlotta asked Mia who nodded furiously. "Ezra, gather you and your musicians. Mia, grab some of the dancers and Payton, I want the Glee kids here right away."

"Let's go," Ezra gestured for the two girls to follow him as the three of them left briefly as some of the actors approached them. Shortly, all of the dancers, musicians and Glee kids were gathered.

"We need an entertaining musical finale! I know it's short notice but without a doubt, we can pull it off. We are students of Twin Wings!" Carlotta declared, receiving an energetic shout back as they quickly did a small rehearsal of the finale.

When the curtains rose, revealing a dead Romeo and Juliet, Carlotta held her breath.

A resounding, big band orchestra kicks into a jaunty musical tune. Romeo and Juliet jumped up with the dancers emerging from behind the curtains.

"Romeo drank poison, and now he's dead!" Simon quickly sang along to the tune.

"And next to him, Juliet's blood's shed!" Ella responded as Simon spun her around gracefully.

"So much for that guy's cocky swagger!"

"Who gave that crazy girl a dagger?!"

"You've never heard more a tale of woe…"

"Then Juliet and her Romeo!"

The dancers executed various twirls and a series of epic flips before everyone on stage lunged forward into their final poses, with the crowd bursting into a thunderous applause.

Releasing the breath she had been holding, Carlotta slumped against the chair as she spotted her uncle shaking hands with an enthusiastic man whom she gathered was Mr. Kernsprickle.

_One down, two more to go…._

* * *

_**Song: Moon Pride from Salior Moon Crystal**_

_**So here's the latest chapter! Finally, one board member impressed.**_

_**Now for those who are unaware yet, I am running a competition for an OC maker to be Carlotta's half-sibling. Check my blog on tumblr called carlotta-the-winters for more information on this!**_


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